Display container

ABSTRACT

A display container for elongate items such as sweetmeats has a flat tray-like support element with recesses for receiving individual items endwise and, the support element being located in a cardboard or like box having a rear wall which is higher than its front wall and a lid hinged to the rear wall. The lid forms an advertisement panel when raised and the entire box can be folded flat when the support element is removed.

United States Patent [1 1 Dogliotti DISPLAY CONTAINER [75] Inventor: Amilcare Dogliotti, Neive (Cuneo),

Italy [73] Assignee: P. Ferrero & C S.p.A., Alba,

(Cuneo) Italy 22 Filed: Dec. 15,1971

21 Appl. No.: 203,140

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 7, 1971 Italy 53247-B/7l [52] U.S. C1 206/45.l9, 206/45.29, 206/72 [51] Int. Cl B65d 25/10, B65d 5/36, B65d 1/36 [58] Field of Search 206/45.l4, 45.19,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1914 Gardner 206/45.l9 4/1933 Keller 206/45.29 X

2,730,232 1/1956 Coe 206/45.29 X 2,270,580 1/1942 Christy 206/45.29 3,356,462 12/1967 Cooke et al. 206/72 X Primary Examiner--Leonard Summer Attorney-Richard C. Sughrue et all [57] ABSTRACT A display container for elongate items such as sweetmeats has a flat tray-like support element with recesses for receiving individual items endwise and, the support element being located in a cardboard or like box having a rear wall which is higher than its front wall and a lid hinged to the rear wall. The lid forms an advertisement panel when raised and the entire box can be folded flat when the support element is removed.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIED [JCT 3 0 I975 SHEET 20F 3 PATENTED UB1 130 i973 SHEET 3 [IF 3 DISPLAY CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to display containers for holding and displaying a number of individual items.

An object of the invention is to provide a display container for holding individual items such as sweetmeats, of elongate shape, which affords an effective presentation of the items contained therein while facilitating removal of such items individually.

Another object ,of the invention is to provide a display container as aforesaid which has an open condition for display purposes and which can be closed and folded into a compact flat condition for storage and transport, whereby the bulk of the container is greatly reduced.

A further object of the invention is to provide a display container as aforesaid, which is of simple, robust and economical construction, easy to assemble and effective in use.

According to the invention there is provided a display container for a number of individual elongate items, comprising a flat support element provided with recesses for receiving individual items inserted endwise, and a box of cardboard or like material, having a base, defined by front and rear walls of different heights, and two side walls of tapering height, the support element being contained within the'box, and a lid, which can be turned down flat, hinged to the rear wall of the base, the lid when closed protecting items in the recesses and when open being movable into a substantially vertical position so as to form an advertisement panel which is an effective extension of the rear wall of the base, the said box being collapsibleby folding its two side walls inwards so as to reduce the bulk of the container when folded up without the support element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further characteristic features and advantages of the invention will be apparent in the course of the following description, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display container for sweetmeat items according to one embodiment of the invention, shown in its assembled and closed condition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the display container of FIG. 1 in its open condition for display of the items contained therein;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the container, on an enlarged scale, taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the outer box of the container alone, in the assembled and open condition;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the box of FIG. 4 in a partially closed down or collapsed condition, and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the partially collapsed box illustrated in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT The display container according to the invention as illustrated comprises a box I, of cardboard or like material, within which is placed a flat support element 2 in the form of an inverted rectangular tray, vacuumformed in thermoplastics material. The support element 2 is provided with a number of identical recesses 3 arranged in rows parallel to the edges of the element. Each recess 3 is shaped so as to contain an individual dies or the like these should preferably be placed leaning slightly backwards, away from the front edge of the box 1, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, so that their withdrawal from the individual recesses 3 is facilitated. Each recess 3 is provided at its upper end with a widened mouth portion 3a (FIG. 3) which facilitates withdrawal of the items 4 with the fingers.

The box 1 has a base, in which the support element 2 is located. The base comprises a bottom wall 5, a front wall 6 having two wings 7 at opposite ends, a rear wall 8, of greater height than the front wall 6, having wings 9 at its opposite ends, and two side walls 10 interconnecting the front and rear walls. The side walls 10 taper in height from the. rear to the front of the box. Interconnection of the walls of the box is effected by sticking the wings 7 and 9 of the front and rear walls to the two side walls 10.

The side walls 10 have creases A, B sloping at an angle of 45 to the edges of the bottom wall 5 and ar ranged symmetrically, starting from the corners of the bottom wall 5, so as to make it possible to flatten the base by folding the side walls 10 inwards about the Y creases A and B, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

A folding lid 11 is integral with the back wall 8 of the box. The lid 11 has a terminal closing flap 12 which in the closed condition of the box, illustrated in FIG. 1, is

inserted between the front wall 6 and the adjacent front edge of the support element 2. The lid 11 has on its inside surface a U-shaped incision 13 which separates a roughly U-shaped inner area 14 adjoining the back wall 8 from an outer area 15 which can be folded about transverse fold lines C. The outer area 15 includes a tongue portion 16 defined by the incision 13.

In the normal closed condition (FIG. 1), all parts of the lid 11 are disposed in a single plane, ensuring both protection and retention of the items 4 contained in the recesses 3 of the support element 2.

For display purposes the lid 11 is raised, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the outer area 14 is folded back relatively to the inner area 14 along the transverse fold lines C: as a result of this folding back, the outer area 15 is placed behind the U-shaped inner area 14 and the tongue portion 16 projects upwards. The terminal flap 12 of the lid 11 is straightened out so as to be coplanar with the outer area 15, and the flap 12 is then inserted between the rear edge of the support element 2 and the rear wall 8 of the box 1. In this way a vertical advertisement panel is formed, being an effective continuation of the back wall 8 and bearing upon its exposed surface advertisements or like matter relating to the goods displayed.

The container which has been described can be stored, when empty, in a collapsed or folded-up state, after the shaped support element 2 has been removed from the box 1. The container is folded up by folding the front and rear walls 6 and 8 inwards towards each other and, at the same time, folding the side walls 10 down towards the bottom wall 5 so that the ends of the side walls 10 form pleats folded at the creases A and B. The lid 11 is then brought into contact with the bottom wall 5 of the box, while the flap 12 is folded on to the lid 11 to form an extension of the bottom wall 5.

The collapsed box 1 can be re-erected quickly so as to receive the pre-shaped support element 2, and the container is then ready to be refilled and to be used again.

It will be appreciated that the container according to this invention can be used for a number of different purposes and can be embodied in a variety of ways within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: g

1. Display container for a number of individual elongate items comprising a rectilinear box having front and rear walls with the rear wall being of greater height that the front wall, two side walls of tapering height extending between said front and rear walls, a bottom and a lid hinged to said rear wall, said lid having a pair of spaced apart transverse fold lines extending inwardly from opposite edges of said lid and a shaped incision interconnecting the transverse fold lines and defining a tongue portion which is adapted to project upwardly when the lid is folded back upon itself along said transverse fold lines, said lid having a terminal flap along the forward edge thereof opposite the hinged connection of the lid to the rear wall of the box which is adapted to be disposed contiguous to the inner surface of the front wall in the closed condition of the container and adapted to be disposed contiguous to the interior surface of the rear wall in the open condition of the container, said container further comprising a flat support element disposed in spaced parallel relation to the bottom of said container at a distance equal to the height of said front wall, said support element having a plurality of individual integrally formed recesses therein with the rear walls of each recess being inclined rearwardly to support said elongate items in a slightly backwardleaning position and with the forward upper edge of each recess being countersunk to provide a widened mouth portion to facilitate withdrawl of the items from the support element.

2. Display container according to claim 1, wherein said box is provided on its side walls with creases, symmetrically inclined, which facilitate folding inwards of said front, rear and side walls to permit the box to be folded flat. 

1. Display container for a number of individual elongate items comprising a rectilinear box having front and rear walls with the rear wall being of greater height that the front wall, two side walls of tapering height extending between said front and rear walls, a bottom and a lid hinged to said rear wall, said lid having a pair of spaced apart transverse fold lines extending inwardly from opposite edges of said lid and a shaped incision interconnecting the transverse fold lines and defining a tongue portion which is adapted to project upwardly when the lid is folded back upon itself along said transverse fold lines, said lid having a terminal flap along the forward edge thereof opposite the hinged connection of the lid to the rear wall of the box which is adapted to be disposed contiguous to the inner surface of the front wall in the closed condition of the container and adapted to be disposed contiguous to the interior surface of the rear wall in the open condition of the container, said container further comprising a flat support element disposed in spaced parallel relation to the bottom of said container at a distance equal to the height of said front wall, said support element having a plurality of individual integrally formed recesses therein with the rear walls of each recess being inclined rearwardly to support said elongate items in a slightly backward-leaning position and with the forward upper edge of each recess being countersunk to provide a widened mouth portion to facilitate withdrawl of the items from the support element.
 2. Display container according to claim 1, wherein said box is provided on its side walls with creases, symmetrically inclined, which facilitate folding inwards of said front, rear and side walls to permit the box to be folded flat. 